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Budget carbon fibre boom pole


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The whole bike, GIANT do a full carbon that starts at 1k,

TREK full bike are around $1700

 

Dave, or somebody that got a factory tour, could tell us if boom poles are hand wrapped. There is also a concern for tolerances with telescoping tubes.

With bicycles, a LOT of the cost is components. Unless the frame is actually custom made to your measurements, the components are the money. I would be curious to see the "how it's made" of a mass produced carbon fiber bike frame, but I am pretty sure most all mass produced bicycles moved production overseas. Even Cannondale had to do it. 10 years ago you could get a Cannondale mountain bike (aluminum frame) that was hand made in Pennsylvania with very respectable components for $800. 

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I've seen a couple of guys using CF handles for fishing landing nets with a 3/8" screw at the top, which are telescopic CF poles:

http://www.wiremonkey.com/boompole.htm

They're not as stiff as proper poles and the locks aren't as good, but they do work...  Not sure what clients might think when you've got 'SUPER BASS CATCHER PRO' or something along the side :) 

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Dave, or somebody that got a factory tour, could tell us if boom poles are hand wrapped. 

 

Well...Kind of. Carbon has to be baked at a pretty high temperature to become graphite (which is different than carbon fiber), high enough that it would kill a human. We don't actually wrap the graphite here in the shop. We have it made specifically for us to our specifications. The graphite is made in layers. I personally haven't seen it made, but I've seen what happens when transpo runs over a graphite pole. Not pretty. 

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  • 2 months later...

I moved from the Luxe Falcon to a K-Tek Klassic and am very happy. The internal cabling and thicker pole are comforts that are worth the price.

With that being said, of you're on a very tight budget the Falcon is not a bad deal. I am doing more run and gun/one man band and the upgrade was worth it. The K-Tek feels like it will last a long time. And if this board is any indication, their service is top-notch.

Also: while I treat my gear like it's made of glass, I did lend the Luxe to a friend who was new to audio and I did fear would return with the joints totally stripped. It didn't, luckily, but the pole didn't instill reassurance in that department. If you treat it easy it should hold up for awhile, though.

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As someone who spent years of misery under bad fishpoles in the old days, I really would encourage folks to take the pole seriously as your axe and get something made to do the job really well.  For newb and budget folks, you are going to be working out of a bag mostly and booming for yourself, you can swap out mics but your main fishpole is going to work on every shot you do, more or less.  I'd sacrifice in other areas of the package, the mics even, to make sure you have a really great main pole.

 

philp

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  • 2 weeks later...

Purchased one of those Lux Falcon poles. Wanted to let others know what to expect if trying to cable it internally. 

 

It doesn't seem to be in this thread, though I swear I read it somewhere in the forum regarding these poles, but it's a bit thinner than comparable Ktek poles. You'd think this is a good thing (less weight) but the consequence of that is that it doesn't seem to be able to take an internal cable. 

 

I went to Pro-Sound NY and to Gotham and neither thought it was possible or a good idea to try installing an internal cable. Pro-Sound didn't even get past the drilling part, as they were worried that drilling it would cause the pole to crack (there's no exit hole already drilled for the female end of an internal, coiled XLR). Gotham took a bit more time with it, but told me that the last segment of the pole (the thinnest one) would be much too thin to properly house the coiled cable of the XLR. They said that if I went from all-the-way-extended to completely shortened it would be very prone to bunching up. I imagine that the coiled cable would also rattle around inside the pole because of the same reason. 

 

They didn't say it was "impossible", just that the time and effort it would take to maybe do it wouldn't be worth it. But I dunno. I'm not a technician.... Gotham told me cables are built to a certain size and so are boom poles. In order to make the Lux Falcon pole take an internal cable, it would need cables that don't exist. Getting specially-designed cables for a budget boom pole would probably ruin the whole point of getting a budget boom pole. 

 

 

I like the pole for narrative/fiction work where I have a bit more time. For run-and-gun doc stuff I still use my ktek avalon 12'. The Lux Falcon pole is as light as they advertise, and it seems sturdy enough, though it seems a bit strained at full extension with a Rode Blimp at the end (note though it still does okay if you detract it just a few inches).

 

Also, this is minor but there was some machine oil left on the pole when I received it. I emailed the manufacturer, apparently one they "missed". 

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I've been using a Gitzo 12' carbon fiber pole for 6 years.  I've only boomed with internal cables a handful of times, but so far I prefer having the cable outside.  It's also very cheap and light.  I've cleaned it only a couple of times when the joints get sticky.  I have yet to find a reason to get a more expensive pole (as long as I keep doing doc work).

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Might make an awesome antenna mast if it fails as a boom pole.

Like JohnPaul I thought that these poles would make a good alternative to the Manfrotto extensions we use on our carts as aerial masts so I emailed them but I didn't get any response whatsoever. It would appear that this company suffers from the worst sort of arrogance in that they think that their time is more important than that of their would be customers.

Malcolm Davies. A.m.p.s.

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  • 4 years later...

I am doing alot of low budget work for web productions, and honestly I don't want to bring my ambient and vdb boom poles, so was thinking to buy some cheaper, we are shooting indoor and need lenght around 2-2,6 meters maximum, has anyone used some china aluminum stuff? I don't think there is a lot of difference with rodes.

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Just now, alidav said:

I am doing alot of low budget work for web productions, and honestly I don't want to bring my ambient and vdb boom poles, so was thinking to buy some cheaper, we are shooting indoor and need lenght around 2-2,6 meters maximum, has anyone used some china aluminum stuff? I don't think there is a lot of difference with rodes.

 

I recently finally picked up the Rode Micro-Pro, which I've been interested by since it came out. It's NOT telescopic, just 3 sections adding up to 2.2 metres (so you could use just 2 for a 1.5ish reach). 3/8in mic threads top and bottom on each section. It's nicely made and very light and pretty cheap (for what it is).

 

I actually picked it up more as a stand for FX recording (tried for instance attaching a Cullmann Magnesit Copter to the base). I'm surprised no-one here though ever picked up on it as a potential problem solver extra tool - extra reach, light travel pole for simple jobs like sit downs, discrete plant pole. Although some of these uses may require some fiddling and simple modifications (it's not too happy as 'extra reach' on my short Canford pole which has a short repaired thread) I'm sure I'll come up with some nifty solutions with it. But it might actually suit you 'out of the box' for what you're describing - just be warned (and a reminder) that it's NOT TELESCOPIC !

 

Jez

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I am using a millibo something 901. 0,5kg 3m carbon boom pole for 80 euros or so. I did some greasing, added washers and a plastic chair feet cover to protect the end. The adjustments added around 5 euros, but brought the feel to be quite good. It flexes quite a bit and is no ambient, but is lightweight and cheap.

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7 hours ago, alidav said:

I am doing alot of low budget work for web productions, and honestly I don't want to bring my ambient and vdb boom poles, so was thinking to buy some cheaper, we are shooting indoor and need lenght around 2-2,6 meters maximum, has anyone used some china aluminum stuff? I don't think there is a lot of difference with rodes.


Skip the aluminium ones and get yourself a carbon fibre pole from china. 

 

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Yep, I've got the same one. It does the trick, but I would never use it at full extension outdoors on a breezy day. It has the flex! On the upside, it is definitely cheap enough to buy a spare or two compared with other carbon poles. 

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